Dados do Trabalho

Título

INULIN EXTRACTION AND CHARACTERIZATION FROM TUPINAMBO TUBERS (Helianthus tuberosus L.)

Introdução

Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is a plant native from North America, which presents inulin as storage polysaccharide, instead of starch. It is used by the food industry as one of the main sources of this polysaccharide in various parts of the world. However, despite being widely used as a raw material for obtaining inulin, there are no studies that extract, characterize and quantify this polysaccharide from Jerusalem artichokes tubers cultivated in Brazil.

Material e Métodos

In this sense, the present study sought to characterize and quantify the inulin of Jerusalem artichoke species cultivated in Brazilian soil.

Resultados e Discussão

The tubers showed a total inulin yield of 27% (dry weight basis) when subjected to 6 successive water extractions (2 h each, at 100°C) and ethanolic precipitations (3:1v/v). The presence and homogeneity of inulin was confirmed, respectively, by NMR spectrometry and high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC).

Conclusão

The results pointed out to a potential of Jerusalem artichoke as a raw material for inulin extraction in Brazil, since literature data (Xiao et al., 2013) showed an inulin extraction yield between 12-37%, according to the extraction procedures.
Reference: Xiao, Z.-J & Zhu, D.-H & Wang, X.-H & Zhang, M.-D. (2013). Study on extraction process of inulin from Helianthus tuberosus. Modern Food Science and Technology. 29. 315-318.